Friday, March 30, 2012

Or are we dancers? The age old question... Cate sent me a link to these beautiful flickr photos by J 0 2 e this morning, and I fell absolutely in love with the movement and detail represented through this beautiful embroidery. It has inspired me to do some kind of craft using colorful stitching on top of art... Hmm. Enjoy!

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

I have been eyeing this polka-dotted skirt by Kate Spade lately. I really, really, really want it. And I want to style it exactly like this. If only it could be mine...but alas, I spend waaay too much money on theatre tickets to justify dropping nearly 400 bones on a skirt right now. Though my mom is visiting this weekend and delivering my sewing machine, so perhaps I will just go ahead and play copycat.

Monday, March 26, 2012

Did you see the movie yet?? As planned, I saw The Hunger Games on Friday night in Times Square. (It still trips me out to come out of a movie and find myself in the craziest, most crowded part of New York City, though I think I love it...) But before the movie, I met Cody, the jewelry artist I blogged about here and he gifted me my very own beautiful charm necklace to wear! I was beyond surprised and excited. All through dinner, I couldn't stop looking at it...I even clutched it a few times during the movie in moments of nervous suspense. Let's be honest, the entire theatre got a little emotional at certain parts (you know exactly which ones I'm talking about) but my roommate Colleen and I were maybe the top teary offenders...Oops. Anyway, it was everything I wanted it to be. Can't wait for the next one!

And because the world is still very much suffering from Hunger Games mania, I decided to put together a little assemblage of some of my favorite Etsy items I've found while scouring the web. Hope you loved the movie! If you haven't seen it yet, or read the books, I definitely recommend both. But (as always) start with the books!

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Are you guys hitting the midnight showing of The Hunger Games tonight? Sadly, I'm way to exhausted from gallivanting around beautiful New York City (or just working full-time...) to stay awake that late on a school night. But I'll be hitting it up in IMAX tomorrow with my roommates and I know we are all beyond excited. It seems like people have been talking about this movie non-stop for the past six months. And the trilogy was the first set of subway books I read on my Kindle when I moved to NYC in January.

Anyway, I have been eyeing some beautiful Hunger Games-inspired jewelry over on the Etsy shop 1LuckySoul. The designer, Cody, is incredible! The attention to detail is completely amazing... He's thought of everything: the Mockingjay pin, the bow and arrow, the tracker jacker, a District 12 medal, Katniss' pearl, Peeta's locket, even a coal bead... I kind of geeked out over this charm necklace. And there are a ton of other options too...a charm bracelet, a reaping bowl necklace, and of course the classic Mockingjay regalia as well. And he doesn't just stop at The Hunger Games. There's some fantastic Harry Potter stuff as well as some really cool steam punk pieces. Check out 1LuckySoul for some handmade, whimsical wares! (See the full necklace below)

Monday, March 19, 2012

It's that time again, folks! The seasons are changing, the air is warming, the birds are chirping...and that means it's time to check in with some of the most fashion-forward eight-year-olds you ever did see! This also happens to be known as the Zara Kids lookbook. Check it out. Get some inspiration for your own springtime looks. And while you're at it, try not to feel as bad as I do that these children are better dressed than we will ever be, and they don't even have their molars yet...

Thursday, March 15, 2012

There are certain things one never thinks about when imagining life in New York City...
When I decided to move, I thought about pretty much everything that could possibly be different or inconvenient. I mentally prepared myself for the impending adjustment to the new way of doing things like grocery shopping (getting groceries for the evening rather than the week, or the month in my past life...), doing laundry (I'm lucky enough to have washers/dryers in the basement of our building, but plenty of people here have to hit the laundromat), or even something as simple as cooking (kitchens are notoriously quite a bit smaller here) but those adjustments haven't been nearly as cumbersome as I anticipated. There was one thing I've done, however, that made me stop and think about just how totally different life here is. And believe it or not, it was a trip to The Home Depot.

I know it sounds ridiculous, but I never really thought about what going to a large chain hardware store would be like in the middle of Manhattan. No huge parking lots littered with orange carts. No families standing around loading their purchases into the back of an SUV. In fact, the exterior of the building was kind of beautiful with lots of intricate white molding that was probably crafted hundreds of years ago. I found myself walking there on a beautiful tuesday afternoon last week. It's only about twenty blocks from my office. I met my roommate there, and we picked out paint swatches, and selected the color for our kitchen and our bedrooms. We bought blinds and over-the-door rack thingies, and lots of other home nesting goodies. And we bought PAINT. Three large cans and two mini ones to be exact. And then as we awkwardly juggled our haul and headed for the door, I remembered that our shopping cart was about to go bye-bye. We would be heading out into the sunset on foot, carrying our goods on our backs like urban pack-mules.

What ensued was exactly the Marx Brothers, slapstick comedy you're imagining. Walking to the subway station, passing things back and forth over the turn-styles in order to get out our MetroCards without hitting strangers in the face with a gallon of "Mimosa," and then taking three different trains to get home, all of which were standing room only. "You two are going to be busy," commented a friendly lady sitting across from us, spotting our home improvement supplies with a glad-it's-not-me twinkle in her eye. But you know something? We made it home without any major incident or injury. And as we slapped a few splotches of paint in the kitchen with the underlying realization that we may not finish this task for another month (or more) with our busy schedules, I realized I live in New York City, so I didn't mind a bit. And, honestly, I'd rather walk twenty blocks, or take three separate subway lines, to get to the ornate facade of the 23rd street Home Depot than ever have to look at another vast, midwestern parking lot again. I don't need the depot to tell me I'm officially HOME.

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

1 I am very aware that I am the worst blogger in the world. When life gets stressful, it's usually the first thing to go, besides doing my hair or makeup or practicing good hygiene in general. So rest assured (maybe?) that I will be back with semi-regularly updated content and NYC excitement here at JSQ very soon. Annnnd thanks so much to some of my new followers! Usually after taking an over 2 weeklong blogging hiatus without so much as an explanation, I lose followers, not gain them! So thanks!

2 The reasons I've been MIA are as follows:

Moving (finally) into our newly renovated apartment: Everything is pretty much still packed up in boxes, and I desperately need to do laundry, but I can't find a spare second to do anything lately...

Furniture building: We took a 7-hour trip to IKEA a few weekends ago, and left with about a metric ton of furniture which was delivered last Monday and stowed in one of the bedrooms. We've been building things slowly but surely, but the place is still overrun with boxes.

Picking out paint colors: We chose a light celery color for the kitchen, but the jury is still out on the bathroom, our bedrooms, and the living room. (In true JSQ style, my paint swatches are pictured below... Yes, I'm aware that I'm terribly predictable at this point. Except when it comes to my blog-updating schedule.